Team Identities Taking Shape After EDL Game Two

The San Diego Elite Draft League is a unique experience because every year is a clean slate. New teams. Fresh faces. Renewed rivalries. A new opportunity for heroes to rise; for identities to be claimed. 

In its third season, the EDL welcomed returning players and embraced new competitors as the league continues to gain momentum in the Southern California roller hockey scene. 

With competition rising and players hungry for glory, teams must establish their rhythm early on to build the traction needed to succeed down the stretch. 

Game Two — Gameplay Recaps

Gaslamp Guardians vs. La Jolla Riptide

The first matchup of the season between the Gaslamp Guardians and the La Jolla Riptide had the makings of a nail-biter. The Guardians had a full bench, including captain Kyle Agnello, who made his EDL debut. On the other side, the Riptide were missing their captain, Nik Olsson, as well as their star defenseman, Reed Kinsey. 

But by the end of the game, the Riptide had run away with it, their high-end talent proving too opportunistic for the Guardians to overcome.

The Guardians possessed the puck for much of the first half, demonstrating poised puck control through their neutral-zone cycling. But they couldn’t find the back of the net. Shortly after a failed Guardians power play midway through the first half, the Riptide came alive, led by star player Nate Kallen. 

At 7:22 remaining in the first half, Kallen corralled a bouncing puck in his defensive zone and stampeded north, creating a 2-1 opportunity before ultimately ripping home a sneaky wrister that put the Riptide up 1-0. 

The Guardians maintained their composure, quickly responding with a goal of their own when Zack Nolte gave a crafty skate pass to teammate Logan Wise, who rifled the puck high blocker to tie the game 1-1. 

Then it was the Riptide’s turn to respond. The Riptide pushed the puck forward on a defensive zone faceoff, allowing Dillon Bilek to skate into the puck and dish it ahead to a streaking Kallen, who went in on a breakaway and scored his second of the game, putting the Riptide up 2-1 with 4:22 remaining in the first half. 

The Riptide continued to pour it on. Jimmy Becker scored off his own rebound after getting a nice centering pass from Bilek. Then, in the waning seconds of the first half, the Riptide drew up a similar play on another defensive zone draw: Kallen won it forward; Bilek gained possession and stormed into the offensive zone before making a tight turn and finding Kallen as the high man; Kallen released a one-timer that beat the tendy, earning the hat trick and putting his team up 4-1 with four seconds remaining in the first half. 

The second half opened up with the two teams exchanging opportunities and both goalies making nice saves. Riptide goalie Quinlen Johnston was particularly noticeable, making timely glove saves and shutting down several Guardians odd-man rushes. Eventually, the Riptide broke the seal on the second-half scoring when Kallen sailed a pass to William Anderson, who snuck behind the Guardians’ defense and scored on a breakaway. A few minutes later, the Riptide struck again when Becker won a corner puck battle and passed it forward to Bilek, who chipped the puck ahead to himself, beating a defender and building speed before rifling home a top corner snipe that put the Riptide up 6-1. 

The Guardians called a timeout, and to their credit, they came out of it skating with urgency. They continued getting pucks to the net and battled to maintain offensive zone pressure. Eventually, Bailey Ridout turned away from the Riptide defense in the Guardians' offensive zone and wired a rink-wide pass to Eli Hoffman, who collected the pass and fired home a shot that caught twine. 

After committing his second infraction of the game, Bilek came out of the penalty box and soon after found himself on the receiving end of a gorgeous pass from Kallen, who threaded the puck between two Guardians defenders and put Bilek on a breakaway that he capitalized on for his second goal and fifth point of the game. 

This put the Riptide up 7-2, which stood as the final score.

Final Score

Gaslamp Guardians: 2
La Jolla Riptide: 7

Keys to the Game

• La Jolla opportunistic on the fast break, including right off faceoffs 
• Gaslamp puck possession with neutral-zone cycling and patience with the puck

Old Town Outlaws vs. Torrey Pines Talons

Right from the opening faceoff, the game between the Old Town Outlaws and the Torrey Pines Talons had an upbeat, almost frenetic pace as both teams battled hard, with players flying through the neutral zone to create opportunities.

The Outlaws opened up the scoring when Evan Medeiros skated the puck into the offensive zone and moved east to west before sending a cross-body shot on net that generated a Grade-A rebound right in the crease that teammate Ben Hoffman roofed into the net, putting the Outlaws up 1-0 with 14:05 remaining in the first half. 

Soon after, the Talons tied the game. Talons captain Ray Kinsey won an offensive zone battle and sent it back to Colton Grover at the point, who passed it across to Christian Tabone, who then took a couple of strides toward the net and wired a low shot that bested the Outlaws’ tendy. The next goal came from Chris Sidner, who made a nice defensive play and then carried the puck into the offensive zone with numbers before electing to rip a shot that went off the far post and in, putting the Talons up 2-1.

From there, it was a back-and-forth game chock-full of hard rips and silky dishes. 

Jake Pribble passed it out of the Outlaws’ defensive zone to teammate Noe Santos, who fired in a low shot to even the score 2-2. A few minutes later, Bryan Dodson received a pass up the boards from Medeiros, then skated with speed into the offensive zone and released a quick wrister from between the circles that beat the Talons’ goalie to regain an Outlaws lead. 

In the final minute of the first half, Kinsey made a beautiful move to spin off the Outlaws defender and found Gordie Johns for a backdoor tap-in that evened things at 3-3, a score which would hold through to intermission. 

Ten minutes into the second half, Talons’ Josh Morrison collected a rink-wide pass off the boards from teammate Colton Grover and fired a shot from the top of the circles that squeaked through the Outlaws’ goalie.

Less than a minute later, Santos intercepted a Talons’ outlet pass and then dished the puck across to Tia Stoddard, who released a one-timer that beat the Talons’ goaltender, knotting the game at 4-4. 

Shortly after, Santos continued his momentum by picking up a loose puck in the neutral zone, skating right down Main Street, and ripping a shot that soared past the Talons’ defenders and goalie. This gave the Outlaws a 5-4 lead. Then it was Dodson’s turn to pick up a loose puck in the neutral zone and hustle right down the center of the rink before taking a virtually uncontested shot from the high slot, giving the Outlaws a two-goal lead with 6:33 remaining in the game. 

With time winding down in regulation, the Talons skated with a renewed sense of urgency. They pulled their goalie to get a fifth attacker on the rink and eventually scored off a rebound goal by Brian Pino, giving the Talons some life with 1:15 remaining and only down by a goal.

But then Noe took the breath out of the Talons by sending the puck 100 feet into the Talons’ empty net after the Outlaws broke up a passing play in the final minute of the game.

The game ended 7-5, Outlaws. 

Final Score

Old Town Outlaws: 7
Torrey Pines Talons: 5

Keys to the Game

• Old Town clogging up the middle, blocking shots, and using their speed to gain an advantage 
• Torrey Pines maintaining a shoot-first mentality, but needing to tighten up their D-zone gapping